Hidden Helpers

This week's episode of Easy to read Deep Thoughts is special and my special guest Dr (Professor?) Geri Lynn Maples is a close friend. Geri and I met through LinkedIn years ago and over those years, she’s trusted me to offer good advice to her class and family many times over. Hidden Helpers?

I know Geri’s background but I won’t share much in this newsletter and instead, set this stage for her to share personally Live this Friday at 12pm (link in comments below). What I can and will speak to now, is my experience and the caregiver observations I made over the 4 years I worked as a Veteran Health Information Exchange Coordinator for the St Cloud VA hospital.?

Carrying paperwork around is hard

My bullet point above is significant and counterintuitive for those who haven’t done it. Should your health team have every important allergy, lab result, and surgery note relating to your all-important medical condition = Yep. Do they have it? = Don’t bet your life on it.?

This was a common situation in my work and 1 able to personally speak on in detail. Who is most likely to be carrying around veteran health information? = their caregiver. It was rare to see the veterans themselves navigating the VA’s paperwork hurdles.

Missed info?

I saw the following situation with my own eyes a few times over = Unknown ‘Known’ allergies. As in, the veteran knew they were allergic to Latix, and the veteran's last care team at their last local hospital knew they were allergic to Latix (Known).?

Kicker: The new surgeon and new care team about to perform the veteran’s surgery didn’t know (unknown) about the Latix allergy. I saw this happen a few times over and clearly remember 1 as I type this. The wife of the veteran I’m remembering just happened to mention the Latix allergy in normal conversation with the surgeon in the last pre-meeting surgery. This allergy wasn’t in the doctor's notes the surgeon had available = Caregiver saved the day.?

Who Else?

I struggle to picture my caregiving endurance over time. I’m a parent of 2 and I assume the feeling is the same but I’m aware it's not. My kids grew up and the hands-on carrying I gave went down as their independence went up. It doesn’t work like that in long-term care.?

Caregiving could be a 1-way ticket = sincere giving. No possibility of mutual benefit or personal gain = Selflessness in the most humanizing situation our human experience has to offer.?